The Street Fighter often asks himself what is he training for? He tells himself he is training for any possibility. The unanticipated so as not to be taken by surprise.

When forced to make an instantaneous decision, under high pressure, most LEOs revert to their most basic instincts. For the desired response to occur it must be second nature. Only through repetitive training can it become deep-routed: over and over until the LEO does it without thinking.

In the heat of battle there is no time for intellectualizing. Either the LEO acts swiftly or he dies. It's that simple.

Most police agencies and academies train their LEOs to the least common denominator. Whether it is a recruit class or a group of LEOs with many years on the job all subject matter must be passable by the weakest performer in the group. The standard is so low that the group of trainees pass with a relative amount of ease. Those LEOs who have potential to excel are only trained to the deliberate low standard. If the bar was raised not all will pass. Ask yourself what is your level of training? If it doesn't challenge you it doesn't change you.

The LEO in the attached clip had a double feed with his blaster. He bugged out, ran down the stairs and had absolutely no idea how to clear his malfunction to get back in the fight.

Pittsburg Police Identify Officer-Involved Shooting Victim, Release Body Cam Footage CBS San Francisco (cbslocal.com)

I will describe the non diagnostic approach when your blaster fails to go bang. You do not care why it didn't go bang, you only care about fixing it and fixing it right now. You are thinking about either seeking cover or keeping track of your attacker as he tries to maneuver on you.

A double feed or what is often called a failure to extract will be recognized by a mushy trigger and the slide will be out of battery. These occur when a round is stuck in the chamber and another round behind it is also trying to work its way into the chamber. The major causes are a weak or broken extractor, a damaged shell casing, a dirty weapon or a faulty magazine.

Lock your pistol's slide to the rear, strip the magazine out of the magazine well, cycle the action at least three times, combat reload, cycle the action to feed a round into the pistol bringing the pistol back into battery.

A double feed with your M4 carbine can be caused on a locked bolt reload. The LEO will aggressively slap the bottom of his magazine causing a couple of rounds to pop up into the chamber. As the bolt closes a double feed is created. Another way this may happen as the LEO charges his carbine he will double clutch the charging handle stripping off a couple of rounds from the magazine. As the bolt runs home the mess is forced into the chamber. Clear this double feed the same way as you cleared your pistol with the exception after stripping the magazine insert a couple of your fingers into the magazine well to jiggle out and get rid of the mess.

To clear a double feed with your pump action Remington 870 shotgun flip the shotgun on its back, apply pressure to the carrier, work the pump action and the shells will fall free. All three types of malfunctions should be cleared in less than 6 seconds. If there is no immediate need to make your blaster go bang remember to index your trigger finger high up on the weapon's frame.The LEO should practice these malfunction drills with his eyes closed, on the move and on the move at night. You will then find yourself better prepared for the unpredictable nature of street violence.

"Excellence is achieved by mastery of the fundamentals."... Vince Lombardi

Vince Lombardi was talking specifically about football but is applicable to the LEO. Qualifying LEOs on the range by way of minimum aggregate scoring on purposeless tests must be revamped. Operationally relevant measures must be developed and implemented through testing that gauges skill performance on real-world requirements.

LEOs well know there is a disparity between being book smart, training and the street. The ability to perform well in a controlled training environment, even if it was rigorous and dangerous, could still be totally different in the way one comported himself in a gun battle. Some LEOs who have proven themselves in a training or office environment fall far short in their ability to carry through on the street when the bullets start flying.

Gunfighting is about simplicity, speed and accuracy. The more you overcomplicate things, the more room you leave for mistakes and if you make a mistake in a gunfight that could be the last mistake you make in your life.

I would suggest at roll calls demo these drills to your teammates with dummy rounds.

Semper Fi
Frank White